A Navy medical bay is a place of healing and death, where everything is taken seriously. The Marines doctor looked at the resident Navy doctor with a pained expression on her face.
"Something wrong, doctor?"
"Yes, these orders just came down, straight from the Emperor, of all things to happen." The Marines doctor showed her the orders displayed on the datapad.
The Navy doctor winced as she read it. "That violates so many codes."
"Not to mention violate that poor guy. I'm not sure how to even broach that topic with a guy, not until after some horrible thing and after they wake up from it."
"Maybe we can call the Emperor and get some clarity on this."
"I got his medical file pulled, and due to the risk of addictive relapse we aren't allowed to give him any narcotics, no sedatives, no painkillers... we'll be performing torture on him, and he's under thirty."
Later that day, they finally got a call through to the Emperor about the highly unorthodox orders. They stated the myriad of issues with the orders from causing mental health problems to straight up violating multiple codes and laws. The Emperor told them to follow orders, and would consider them to be obeying under protest.
Meanwhile, Yidas the psychopath was counting her eggs before they hatched. She had done well to fall in step with the political process, sewing all good proposals and wonderful advancements that were long overdue, but knowing that the strict manner of enforcement would screw over that thing they called her brother. She hated him and hoped he would die in the war, going as far as to cultivate her own little extremist movement.
She managed to keep it all quiet as it wasn't big enough yet, but the few armsmen on the Namaste should help her plans. More than a few laws and regulations were suspended by her loving father, but only where they applied to Costan and only until the operation was done. She gave her people the knowledge that they needed to help mentally ruin her only major competition.
The Drug Relapse Prevention Act she got passed should assure that Costan, the thorn in her side, would at least be too unstable to be a successor by the end of the war. If not, the Military Home Plan Act should give him enough run around to get him dishonorably discharged. Should all that fail, her proposal to ensure Costan's viability that her father agreed to will leave those bits easily disposed of, and nobody will follow an Emperor that cannot have offspring.
Costan came around in the brig of the Namaste. He couldn't remember anything after lighting up the peyote and universe going wiggly. He wasn't even sure it was a friendly brig for a while, given that he was naked and had only a metal rack as a bed. He was all still there, but he felt like he hadn't eaten in a day or two. It was confirmed to be a Nekogian vessel when four armsmen came to retrieve him.
It took a while for the doctors to devise a plan to fulfill their orders without the patient dying from shock or trying to murder them, but they had a plan of sorts. Their patient would definitely have mental trauma and mild muscle atrophy from being medically paralyzed for three weeks, but it was the best choice they had unless they wanted to break a mandate or two. The orders were stupid and in blatant violation of the law, but they were orders.
The armsmen put the Private in shackles and proceeded to dragging him to the medical bay naked. The transport hit a snag going through the brig checkpoint. The lieutenant stationed there pointed out that the prisoner was naked and not actually a prisoner, but still a conscripted marine in good standing. Things went horribly south from there. The lieutenant stated Naval codes and regulations, then ordered them back until Private Costan, "the one guy who can kill with his brain if given a little dope", was appropriately dressed.
The armsmen got uppity and broke another regulation, assaulting a superior officer. The lieutenant managed to press the alarm button before the armsmen got the upper hand. Costan didn't know what was going on or what major malfunction the armsmen were having, but that didn't stop him from being used as a shield in the ensuing melee.
The alarm locked them inside the checkpoint, but it wasn't long before a lot of Navy Ratings showed up to deal with whatever the problem was. The beanbags and chemspray were very unpleasant, but the armsmen using him as a meat shield kept missing a hitting Costan. Costan spun on the four armsmen, only to catch a volley of actual lead. Through the pain of everything he had a thought, "They said they didn't have regular guns in service anymore, going to need to borrow me one of those shottys."
The prisoner was subdued with the lead shot, only taking two rounds of the good old stuff in the back before falling to the deck. The Ratings were surprised when the armsmen rushed them, but quickly subdued them with the meat shield out of the way. The non-lethal shotty having been reloaded, it only took one body shot each on the armsmen.
The security footage was immediately pulled and copied for review. The prisoners were washed down and sent to medical, each under armed guard. The footage didn't lie, the one they had in shackles played no willing part in what happened. This left the fault of the incident solely on the armsmen who violated many regulations. Interrogations and investigations would happen for such behaviour, very thorough ones.
Oddly enough Costan's uniform and identification tags were found in a trash bin just inside the brig proper, another few violations on the growing stack of charges. More security footage was pulled from inside the brig proper, and it all started painting a very disturbing picture. Interrogation would turn up what the ultimate goal was.
Captain Cankar got involved, so that nobody got off the hook for this and someone paid for such actions that made the Navy look bad. It was totally not because they did dishonorable things to his son's tutor, or to royalty. It was also definitely not because a Justicar could go full Emish on them and start handing out executions or torturing people for dishonorable conduct in the face of war.
Captain Cankar was in the med bay with his sidearm, reviewing footage and making sure nobody else did something stupid. The doctors were doing their best to pull all the bits of lead out of Private Costan and keep some blood in his veins. It all came to a halt when they pulled a pellet fragment from beside his spine, nicking a disk.
Everything continued on, until they started smelling peyote smoke. The doctors stopped and carefully removed their tools, unknowing of what the war shaman might do. The wounds healed before their eyes and he got up, off of the operating table. The war shaman looked at the armsmen, chained to their beds but in uniform, then at how naked he was.
With a puff off of his pipe, he was clothed in his corrected uniform. The patches of Royal, Justicar, Shaman, Combat Veteran, Marksman, and Emish were properly displayed in place near his name and rank. He looked at Captain Cankar.
"Wait, weren't you shackled to the bed just a few seconds ago?" The Marines Doctor, Doctor Estres, ask, her voice the calm professionalistic thing that had been honed over years of "your [body part here] was unsave-able."
Costan looked at her questioningly and replied with a flat "yes, but shaman gonna shaman and Marine gonna Marine."
"Could you lay back down please, we", Doctor Sheras of the Navy was trying to ask before she was cut off by a similarly flat reply.
"No, and I know. Regular me doesn't know, but I do. I know what you were ordered to do and that Emperor Karcos suspended my protections granted by law for it. It was supposed to be kept quiet, but these ones were following orders given by someone not in power and were informed about it in depth."
Captain Cankar was very curious now.
"By that you mean what exactly, I need to know what is happening aboard my ship. It's also still your ship, don't think I forgot, and yes I know of the doctors orders."
"Good to know. The armsmen are plants of an extremist organization. Their leader is Yidas, my psychopathic sister."
"That is bad, the military has no place for mixed loyalties. I'm off to try and get a hold of the Emperor." Captain Cankar stood to leave, but Costan put a hand on his shoulder.
"Do not bother, I will bring him here to show him the insurrective nature of Yidas."
The door to the blanket closet opened and out walked Emperor Karcos. He was absorbed in a conversation about how Trencos got upset about his white leggings being turned pink due to a washroom incident. He stopped, registering where he was. "Treny, I'm going to have to call you back. It seems as though something weird happened."
"How weird to overshadow that they ruin my favorite leggies?"
"I seem to be on a ship now."
Costan knew how long that conversation would take, so he walked into view of the video call, snapping his fingers once. The pink apparel turned stark white. Trencos immediately noticed and stopped shaking the leggings at the camera.
"This matter is more important and if left unaddressed could result in the death of multiple members of the Royal Family at the hands of insurgents led by Yidas."
Costan's voice was cold and emotionless while informing them in such a clinical manner. Trencos was more taken by the feminine voice of the muscular yet effeminate male that dwarfed the Emperor than by the words. "Who is that?" Trencos' affections were showing again.
Emperor Karcos looked up at the tower of muscle and black fur, then down to the name on his uniform. The pipe in the mouth gave a firm clue as to how he got to wherever he was.
"Private Costan, war shaman, good to see you in good health."
"Cut the crap Emperor Karcos, we need to catch her in a way that she fully incriminates herself. Captain, the medical bay has a full security suit with microphones and cameras. I suggest that they all be activated and everyone be quiet for this."
"Aw, little Costan, you got so big and dreamy and "
Karcos pressed the end call icon on his datapad. "Uh, he's so gay, but family you know? And we are catching Yidas for..."
Costan just gave him a death stare. Captain Cankar butted in with "got the whole security suite online and recording. Go ahead and expose the threat War Shaman."
With a ripple of reality, they heard a wooden door close behind one of the privacy curtains. Yidas sighed from the other side as fabric was moved against fur.
"Privacy at last!" Yidas said, sitting down on the toilet in her private restroom.
Sounds of urination were tolerated and then she had made a few calls. The first call implicated half of Karcos' advisors and Yidas in subordination, defamation, embezzlement, treason, and a slew of other things. Yidas and an advisor were noted for how excited they were for the orders Karcos had given about Costan's viability, Yidas bragged about how entertaining the video would be for her.
The second call was to intimidate one Doctor Usanagi into denying Costan as a patient. The doctor refused, to which Yidas instructed her to check her office fridge. The panicked sounds of Usanagi and Yidas' maniacal laughter ended with Yidas threatening to cut off more than her husband's testicles.
The third call was to one Keejah, who from the content of the call was the one torturing Usanagi's husband and also Yidas homosexual girlfriend. The call went on through a recording of the torture when it was clear to anyone with ears that they were both masturbating. It was more disturbing to Captain Cankar who had access to the cameras.
Emperor Karcos was about to go in there and beat civility into Yidas, but Costan stopped him. Costan signed "one more to get it all."
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The last call was indeed important, it was a security officer who answered it. He was one of the ones that watched all of the cameras on the Namaste. The good Captain prestaged a team of veteran armsmen to get the scoundrel. They talked about all sorts of illegal dealings, it appeared that he knew just about everything she was up to. Then the conversation hit a snag after he confirmed that her plan to displace Captain Cankar was ready and she asked if they took care of the unneeded balls onboard.
"Okay, so how is it going then? Tell me, you're ruining my mood you creep."
"Four armsmen were incapacitated and sent to the medbay after using someone as a meat shield against the Ratings. The Captain is locking systems due to rising risk of insurgency or mutiny. Oh, and don't forget that the War Shaman is back aaaaand."
"And WHAT?"
"Why are you in the medbay and waving a dildo around?"
"How do you know... you are watching me you little creep, aren't you?"
"You are on the medbay camera, specifically medbay camera number five. Costan, the Captain, and the Emperor are literally behind that shower curtain. Um, welcome aboard the Namaste, I guess?"
"Nonsense, just stream me the video when they get him on the table and send me the video of him getting shot, that may improve my mood. Don't forget that I put you there and get you out. Don't make your brother have to suffer an unfortunate accident."
"Yes, of course, as soon as it is ready if I don't get thrown in the brig first."
"Bye, creep."
"Melodramatic moron, ruining my mood. Might have to rewatch that neutering."
Costan handed a paper with Yidas' passwords and user information to Emperor Karcos along with a giant scroll labeled Yidas Associates and Implicated Insurgents. Yidas then called her lover again, repeating actions from earlier.
Doctor Estres chimed in with "at least she will be less resistive to arrest after two rounds with a fake willie."
Everyone knew that Yidas would either not be paying attention, or wouldn't get away if she was and used the time to have needed conversations. The primary conversation was a quick explanation on how many strikes the Empire had with the Emish. Emperor Karcos tried to argue about why they had two strikes, but Costan reminded him that only Emish the Immortal could remove a strike against. Costan gave up on his power tripping genetic donor and the shaman part of him resolved to call in backup.
Costan's eyes rolled back and he fell over with a loud thunk against the metal floor. All eyes were on him, rather than the hulking figure that just came in the door. Yidas was startled by the thunk that came from her shower, but was sure it was a shampoo bottle and resumed her activities.
Emperor K.A.R. had been a very good and fair ruler, even if he was harsh. He founded the current ruling dynasty and had been enjoying his afterlife, even if K.A.R. was shortened to Kar by his descendants. Then Nihil showed up, killing the mood, and requested that he permit his own resurrection. K.A.R. didn't want to be resurrected, but caved when he was told what was happening.
K.A.R. found quite the scenario awaiting him when he stepped back into the mortal realm. He had to blink to make sure he was seeing everything correctly. "Emperor K.A.R. Cosin, I believe my law forbidding the creation of K type clone soldiers was clear, firm, binding, and permanent."
The deep, rumbling voice was fitting of the description of one person and it stopped the room. Everyone looked, Yidas used her little helper to peer around the shower curtain. She couldn't believe what she saw, the huge male clad in traditional Royal robes adorned with medals with his fur of gold and silver could only be one person. Emperor K.A.R. was back.
Emperor Karcos recognized him immediately and took a knee. "Emperor K.A.R., this one is Costan, my twelfth child and not a clone. It is a surprise to see you alive, but a welcomed one in these times of war and turmoil."
Emperor K.A.R. retrieved the still lit pipe from the unconscious Costan. He took a puff and admired the craftsmanship of the pipe, remarking on how it resembled one owned by a noble who survived the reign of the Strazar. They made him, the Kill series clones were all partial clones of Nihil, even Emperor Killer Alphaic Romeo would not deny how horrible and cruel his creators were.
"So, it becomes a full circle. She attempts to bring back a regime like the Strazar, knowing well from history what that will mean."
A squeak of surprise came from behind the curtain. Yidas only wanted to eradicate certain types of Nekogians, not like that one guy. Then she realized that was probably what Dindak Krindler thought.
Yidas let out a screech as a very large hand grabbed her by the neck, the entire neck. Emperor K.A.R. was not happy with what he was told about her, but he was not about to take it at face value. While Nihil was not known for lying by the immortals, K.A.R. would find out her side of the story through her eyes.
K.A.R. took a deep, long drag of the peyote pipe and told Yidas "This may cause you temporary distress." Emperor K.A.R. started to use the powers he hadn't had to use in a few centuries, his eyes turned from the reflective emerald green to churning green flames. The flames lashed out from his eyes to those of Yidas and her entire life flashed before her.
Meanwhile, Emperor Karcos was amending a few orders and laws via his datapad. Costan woke up, confused as to why Emperor Karcos, Captain Cankar, Emperor K.A.R., and Yidas were there, and unknowing of where there was. Then he saw the gurneys and realized that it must be a medical bay of some kind, the Naval Doctor and Marine Doctor kind of hinted towards it being on a ship.
Since Costan was a C01 Private, he addressed the Marine Doctor. "This may be a bad time, but what the hell is going on? Why are all of us here, in a medical bay?"
Doctor Estres just blinked at him for a few seconds before putting two and two together, coming up with four.
"Ah, regular Costan, good to have normal you back. War Shaman Costan is a bit of an asshole. As far as my medical opinion, we are in the medical bay of the Namaste and the other you resurrected Emperor K.A.R. to straighten things out. Your sister..."
"Not by choice, she's not.", Costan interrupted.
"She was up to a bit of insurrection bordering on treason. Now Emperor K.A.R. is..."
Emperor Karcos interrupted her as well with "Costan, what have you done?"
"Ask the War Shaman, because I don't know, Emperor Karcos. According to Turnunder, the joining of the two sides happens during puberty. I'm chemically castrated, so none of that until I receive a very expensive and time consuming treatment." Costan's voice had some vitriol in it for a change, the events clearly having struck a nerve.
Emperor Karcos was about to scold Costan for his lack of respect, but was interrupted by the sudden lack of space and somebody being between them. Turnunder knew that he would be needed, but his siblings kept stopping him, wanting to come along. He was shocked that Shetieve demanded to come, even though the relationship between her and Nihil had been rocky. Rocky was an understatement, she was the turning point that lead to the suicide of Nihil.
Everything became chaotic, but Costan managed to get to the door and started pulling people into the hallway. The shit show got moved to the mess, where there was enough space for everyone, especially Shetieve, the largest of the Immortals and the one Nihil was created to be the husband for. Every Immortal had their thing that they were the best at, Shetieve was the imagination of creation itself and Nihil was the mastery of invention. One imagined things, and one brought them into being.
On the way, Shetieve did not hide her feelings towards Costan. She called him Nillie and other pet names, going as far as picking him up and hugging him while stroking his hair. Costan enjoyed it, but he had to keep a straight face because he was an active duty Marine. He managed to keep his duty face on, even when she told him that he was the reincarnation of Nihil and bound to be her husband. Costan tried to get answers about anything out of Emperor Karcos, but was selectively ignored.
The meeting devolved into a very boring conference like situation with everyone voicing opinions and proposals and voting for or against said proposals via data pads. Costan was left out, nobody bothered to talk at all and he was forbidden from using technology. Costan raised the point by voicing that he was being left out on important issues that likely involved him.
Emperor Karcos brushed him aside, telling Costan that he was unimportant. "The only reason you are here is because the War demands a Royal, so you are to lead from the front. I suggest you get to it. No, I order you to get to it." The Emperor's words cut, and Costan excused himself to go retrieve his gear. He stopped just outside the bulkhead door, just in case someone realized that he should be there. He waited for ten minutes, already aware that nobody would care.
Nobody said anything about his leaving, so he left for the armory. Typically a soldier's belongings stay at their bunk, but he had woke in the brig, so his stuff was likely at the armory under belongings or evidence. The armorer was surprisingly competent and almost pleasant, the younger one had been escorted to the brig just a few minutes prior.
Costan took the time to ask a few questions, and actually got answers.
"So, I can't use technology and can't sign a data pads..." Costan started.
"Yeah, that's why I have these old, outdated paper forms that are so easily lost, C01 Marine Private." The armorer was grinning when he said it.
"It's almost like someone had it out for me in particular, Lieutenant Armorer."
"Yeah, it's like they were in a hurry to change over despite having someone who is forced to use paper documents. Half the ship has heard rumors, most are very unsavory. All are about one Private Costan, as if the universe was trying to fuck him over."
"Not really one to gossip, but I have time before I drop to the front."
"So, a drop unit. You must be insane. There are orders direct from the Emperor's desk to the doctors that they are to take Private Costan, cut out his balls and put them in stasis."
"That's a disturbing rumor, enough to cause issues amongst the Marines. Did you know that some shaman crap has Emperor Karcos and Emperor K.A.R. aboard?"
"That's too far fetched to be believable but also so far out there that you can't be lying."
The Armorer laid down Costan's equipment, including his identification tags and his pipe that was in the mouth of Emperor K.A.R when Costan left the mess hall. Costan was trying to figure it out while staring at the pipe.
"Turnunder is a mutual friend. Anything you want to requisition before you head out?" The Armorer winked at Costan.
"Do you have some old things like a metal canteen, maybe a scatter shot gun or a old pistol in there?"
The Armorer grinned like a mischievous child and started some paperwork while retrieving some things. The gossip continued, with the Armorer catching Costan up on all of the things that he didn't remember from the past month. Costan wanted to go back and slap the pangolo crap out of Karcos, but knew that it wouldn't resolve anything and he'd still be stuck with the tech ban in all known territory. He would have to hire someone to do his taxes.
Costan was not happy with the news, but the pistol, shotty, and variety of the updated obsolete gear cheered him up a little. Who can stay angry when they are offered an anti material gun? Costan can, and he did stay angry, he was just slightly less so. He also couldn't find a way to decline the anti material sniper rifle that was six units in length. The hull steel sabre was also a nice upgrade from the standard dress sabre that, while serviceable, was not designed to be used.
The papers were filed and Costan had a full kit, he even got his shaman stuff and the veteran rations that had cigarettes, spices, and toilet tissue. Nobody fussed about having to make another pass in close orbit for the deployment of a shaman. Costan got geared up and into a pod. It was all according to a greater plan.
Captain Cankar absent mindedly approved the orders and issued an order for a quick bombardment on enemy held positions while passing so close, then went back to focusing on the diplomatic drama. The pod launched, and the bombardment commenced soon after. The Namaste successfully destroyed many of the enemies depos, bunkers, and stores.
Costan was on a collision course with an enemy bomber that had just finished a run on his compatriots. The pods systems detected minor damage to the bomber and that it's shield was down. Costan would have corrected the course, but just listened to the wailing of the alarms instead. He was forbidden from doing anything techy, nothing like a little malicious compliance.
The drop pod slammed into the high altitude bomber at reentry speed, killing the crew as the percussion liquified their internal organs. With the Grequenok pilots dead, nobody could course correct the plummeting craft. A shame that such a useful machine had to be wasted in such a manner, but it crashed at twice the speed of sound.
The mech pilot didn't have time to register what was happening before his cockpit was being shared with a bomber craft. They had an alarm about incoming friendly craft, but turned to look and sealed their fate. With one drop pod, the enemy lost a bomber, a mech, and countless personnel.
Costan started the process of digging his way out of the wreckage. He was bruised and disoriented, but still in fighting shape. He was not happy, with his standing orders direct from the Emperor's mouth to lead from the front ringing in his head.
The ground forces were shocked, but quickly seized the opportunity. The Nekogians lept over the trench embankments and charged the enemy on that stretch of warzone. The enemy was distracted, a large portion of their supporting structure was now gone and one of the mechs was down. It was a bloody affair, but every Nekogian that fell took at least five of the fish faced fucks with them.
By the time Costan had freed himself, the Greq had realized what was happening and rallied to push back. The mech he had downed was being cycled up from the rear, putting him in a good but vulnerable sniping position. "Lead from the front", he whispered to himself, hoping the AM gun kept it's calibration or had been calibrated to begin with. He was at the rear of their column with the destroyed mech service and rearming depo behind him.
He took aim at the air and viewing port on the back of a mech and fired. He forgot to factor in the distance and wind, hitting a leg servo instead. He was about to fiddle with the telescopic but stopped himself remembering how far away he was. The mech crushed a few Greq when it fell down. Costan scolded himself for wasting one of the sixteen rounds. He cycled the bolt, cambering another round.
Taking more calculated aim, the second round ricochetted into the cockpit after clipping the side of the port. The mech jerked around before falling on it's supporting infantry. While he was sniper certified, he surprised himself with that shot. He didn't celebrate, he still had a few more to go. He started carefully picking off the mechs, killing the pilots or at least downing the suits for later.
It took the Greq almost an hour to realize that he was there, but he was already making his way stealthily towards the front before they moved on the position. He had four rounds left for the AM gun, but still had his pistol and shotty. He also had his knife and sword. The night that had set in had given him away as a sniper, but now concealed him on the battlefield.
It took him hours to get to the actual front. The Grequenok ground forces were everywhere, forcing Costan to rely on melee and hand to hand. It wouldn't end well if he was given away. Some of the bodies had been found, but he stayed ahead of the commotion and kept changing directions. It came to a grinding halt a meager twenty deca units from the active battle front.
The Greq had dug in heavily, with automatic fire positions along the corridor, making it an effective kill zone. The ruined buildings and rubble filled streets made it one of the only routes to the Greq command. Collapsed viaducts, rivers, and sky towers formed a massive funnel, and Nekogian forces were about to press it despite the Grequenok mass kill zone.
Conscript Marine Private Cosin Tangent of the drop division had no real choice. He either pushed the defenders from behind or watched others die, he chose to take the Greq with him.